Mostly Cloudy | Long Trail Brewing Co.

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Notes / Commercial Description:
A mostly cloudy body is capped with a light, fluffy head that reveals soft notes of citrus and spices. Whether you prefer partly sunny or mostly cloudy, this brew will happily keep your glass half full.

Mostly Cloudy is modeled after the original Belgian Witbiers brewed in monasteries during the 14th Century. We’ve refined the recipe of our Belgian White, given the packaging a new look and released it under the new name, Mostly Cloudy—although it pairs equally well with sunrays and cloudy days.

Cloudy pale yellow hues brew, great looking lace. Light aroma with some spicing and bready malt. Lighter bodied with sufficient crispness. Maltiness comes off a little wet, like cracker-like tone meets a modest orange peel and coriander tone. A decent try but not much pops here, still worth a go if you are into Witbiers.

While I object to Long Trail's use of the term "Belgian" on their label (as it's clearly not from Belgium), I can hardly complain about the beer itself. It follows the witbier style closely, and displays bright and fresh aromatics and flavors. The nose is full of soft coriander and orange peel, and the flavor is gently malty and just slightly tart with notes of orange, lemon, and some more dusty coriander. The bitterness is kept well in-check, and along with the light note of subtle tartness and very delicate spiciness it's really well-balanced. Some wheat character is apparent in the maltiness, especially across the middle; and there's a subtle touch of earthiness in the finish that's probably coming from a combination of wheat, yeasty chalkiness, dull coriander, and leafy and grassy hops. This is a style that many brewers over-do in one way or another (too much malt, too much spice, too much yeast character, too much hop flavor - or all of the above!) but that's not the case here. It's lively and bright, and remarkably refreshing, but also complex enough that you don't get bored with it.
Kudos to Long Trail for staying focused because sometimes balance is everything!